Until Two Competitive Girls Bloom Into Lilies (負けず嫌いの二人が百合へと発展するまで) is a Japanese Web Novel written by Pitchyon (ピッチョン) and translated by PunishedLyly. It is a One Shot completed with 10,953 Characters. Category: Romance, Shoujo Ai, Yuri Other links: Raw Source

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I, Nishinari Touka, and Shinonome Seika are rivals.

By some coincidence, we were both born on the same day and lived near each other, so we grew up like sisters. Still, we weren’t just peacefully making friends with each other, we were fiercely trying to outcompete each other.

The reason for that is simple. Both of us just hate to lose.

Since we have someone of the same age and gender close to us, we couldn’t help but compare ourselves with each other. When we were at kindergarten, we began to think that we didn’t want to lose to the other and so, we competed in sprinting, drawing, singing and many other things.

As we grew up, our matches evolved to be much easier to judge.

Academics and physical abilities.

With test results and the scores at sports festivals being a clearer basis for our victory and loss, it became easier for us to compete. As a result, our grades went up and we even got physically fit, so I really do think highly of our relationship.

And although we’re high schoolers now, our obsession with our matches haven’t changed a bit.

「–Hah, Hah — Oops — Shoot!」

As I shifted my whole body, I passed over Seika and shot the basketball straight into the ring.

「Alright!」
「Ahh, damn it!!」

In contrast to me pumping my fist, Seika is groaning bitterly right now.

「One more! This time I’ll definitely block you!」

Seika passes the ball to me and lowers her hips into a defensive position.

As we both naturally got enrolled in the same high school, we both entered the basketball club, and on days that we didn’t have club activities, we would always go to a big park to have one-on-one practice matches with each other. Our current score is about 50-50. It’s not just limited to basketball but both of our capabilities, academic or physical, are pretty similar. Due to that, even now our contest never ends.

「– Break time!」

After playing for a while, we decided to take a break. I sat down on the bench beside the court, took my thermos out of my bag, and poured myself a cup of tea. After I took a gulp from the cup, I felt the tea hydrate my whole body. Beside me, Seika similarly had her drink as well.

The rustling branches in the park reached my ears. The afternoon’s breeze cooled my sweat-drenched skin, it felt good. All traces of summer have mostly disappeared and the season has nearly turned to autumn. The comfortable temperature is just perfect for sports.

I stretched my body and started a conversation with Seika.

「It’s really nice how it’s been getting colder lately. Just a while ago, I would be already dripping with sweat after barely 30 minutes.」
「I know right? It’s great since I don’t need to bring a ton of clothes anymore.」
「It’d be great if it was just all spring and autumn, right~」
「That’s not really something I expect to hear from someone who yelled『For a hot day, ice cream is the best!』while eating a watermelon bar in summer with a stupid face.」
「Stupid face is uncalled for!」

While we were talking to each other, a group of girls were walking behind us. They were probably engrossed in their conversation since I can clearly hear their loud conversation.

「So —chan had her first date the other day, she said.」
「Eh, no way~」
「So how was it?」

After that, I heard some whispers followed by a loud squeal as they gradually moved again. Their lively conversation eventually grew further and further away.
That was really noisy. With a wry smile, I muttered「Really energetic, right?」to Seika. That kind of topic is irrelevant to us. I’m sure that Seika was astonished by them too.

「Say, Touka. Have you ever went on a date before?」

Her reaction was unexpected.

「Eh, a date?」
「Yeah, a date.」

Up until now, Seika never had any romance talk with me before. Why now?

— Don’t tell me.

In my head, a connecting dots effect that appears commonly in mystery anime is playing through my mind. Because I know exactly how Seika’s thought process and personality is, I understand what she’s trying to do.

She’s trying to settle the score with romance!?

It’s true that for blooming maidens us, romantic experience even occasionally affects their school life hierarchy.

“If we can’t settle the score with studying or sports, then we’ll fight with romance!” is probably not that far off point.

In other words, Seika has had some. Dating experience.

If I honestly answer『No』here, I can easily imagine her gleefully looking down on me, like a hunter catching its prey.

「….. I have, so?」

Like I stated the obvious, I say it with an unconcerned look. What about you, Seika? Of course you have, right? I made sure to shoot a glance at her as well.

「W-Well I have too. I just thought that Touka’s still childish, so maybe you still haven’t had a date.」
「Haah? Who’s being childish here?」
「Well I’m the taller one.」
「By only a few centimeters! Don’t you think being elated about that shows exactly how childish you are?」
「The fact that you aren’t accepting your loss makes you the childish one here.」
「I’m throwing those exact words right back at you.」

After we glare at each other for a while, we chug our own cups and stop talking for a bit. We already know too well from how long we’ve been with each other that these kinds of quarrels leave plainly unproductive results.

Seika then asked me.

「…… So? What did the mature Touka do on her date?」

So it comes to this, I bite my lip in my mind. Since I actually haven’t gone on a single date before, I have no choice but to bluff her with the knowledge I have from my delusions, TV shows, and manga.

「Nothing really special, we just went to an amusement park.」
「Which one?」
「Well you know, the Land of Dreams? It’s pretty cliché, but it’s really fun.」
「Did you wait long? Did you talk a lot?」
「We were talking about school, hobbies and other stuff, so we were inside in a blink of an eye.」

Hah! I smiled triumphantly, but honestly, I can’t take it anymore. If she asks any more questions, I’d risk getting caught lying.

「Hm~m By the way, is he in the same class?」
「That should be enough about me. More importantly Seika, how was yours?」

「Mine? Well, we saw a movie and went shopping, and stuff.」
「What did you watch?」

「Umm, you know, the one that is talked about right now that has a comic book villain as the main character.」
「No way!? I was super curious about that one. I want to see it too~ 」

「Ah, if you really want to, do you want to go watch it with me?」
「You already saw it, right? I don’t want to get spoiled in the middle, so I’ll just go by myself.」

「Oh, right…」
「But more importantly, I heard that the movie is pretty heavy. Was it okay to watch it on a date?」

「Ah, well, he liked those kinds of movies and I didn’t really mind it as well.」
「Hm~m……」

Damn it, I actually got a bit jealous there. At this rate, I’m going to lose. Still, I also can’t say anything careless. Perhaps it’s best to learn more about what they did.

「…… Where did you go shopping?」
「Umm, we had a light meal and looked around the shops at Harajuku, and stuff……」

Crap, the more I hear about it, the more I feel like a loser. Imagining Seika walking through Takeshita Street with someone while she’s drinking a tapioca drink is making me feel a bit depressed. All I do with Seika is practice and club activities; I’ve never really gone to those kinds of places to have fun with her, so I’m slightly jealous.

As I keep this feeling to myself, I nod to her words.

「That sounds nice. Next time I should go on a date there too.」

Seika looks at me with a slightly surprised expression.

「Touka, are you going out with that guy?」
「Eh!?」

— Crap. I didn’t think about it too much, but if I’m planning to go on another date, of course she’d think that I’m in a relationship. However, if I tell her『Yeah.』she’ll definitely follow up with『Who’s the guy?』If she keeps asking me about things, it’ll be hard keeping it up. On the other hand, I can’t just go『We’re not actually going out, though?』I don’t want her to say stuff like『Eh? So you’re playing with his feelings?』and hate me. Therefore, I should play it up like we’re still in the middle.

「…… Well, I do think that he’s a pretty good guy. He’s really kind too, so I’m like, waiting for him to make it official? And stuff?」

How’s that! This『Well, I’d go out with him if he does though.』tone! Don’t call it stupid. This is a viable tactic as well.

「What about you, Seika? Are you going out with him?」

And by asking her in return, I’m making sure that she won’t be asking any more details. Perfect.

「…………」
「Seika?」
「Ahh, umm, it’s like that for me too.」

Thank goodness. In this sense, it seems like she hasn’t beaten me to the punch yet.

As I was silently relieved, the unthinkable just flew out of Seika’s lips.

「Touka, how far have you gone with him? Measuring by A B C, how much?」

Are you seriously asking that!? Come on, even if we are really going out with someone, this kind of topic is really awkward and such. Still, I have tried to listen in when I hear people in class talk about who kissed who, so I do understand the curiosity.

Then, how should I answer? First of all, absolutely not C. We’re not in a relationship, so going that far is insane. And not doing anything would risk her going『Hm~m, so you only went on dates?』and making her look down on me. Then it’s either A or B, but since I’m the one answering first, being a bit aggressive here would probably make it easier for me to take the initiative.

「……. B. I guess a B if you ask me.」

By making my statement vague, the plan here is making it ambiguous for her. And since I naturally don’t want her asking any more details, I immediately pass the question back to her.

「What about you, Seika?」
「For me………… It’s a B leaning on C.」
「B-B leaning on C!?」

Does that even exist!? More than B but less than C, in other words, B+. What even is a B+? An exam grade? Or rather, how far have you gone with him? Doing that is C, so in other words…… I was about to imagine what the exact deed was, but I immediately erased it from my mind. I shouldn’t do it in front of the party involved. I won’t be able to look her straight in the eye.

…………

I can hear the frolicking of children from far away. I feel like the rustling of the leaves sound louder than they did before as well. That’s just how silent Seika and I are as our eyes are pinned to the ground.

「…… We should start again soon.」
「…… Right.」

And although we’ve continued our practice, both of us were restless and we couldn’t focus at all.

It was still good while I was awake. After all, when I’m moving my body or working on something, I wasn’t able to ponder too much.

But the moment I close my eyes in bed, unnecessary delusions like『So Seika has slept with someone on the same bed』or『Maybe she’s even busying herself with the B+ partner right now』pop one after another and I don’t feel like I can even sleep anymore.

It’s not because I’m excited about it or anything. How should I say this; I feel sad, lonely, like I’m hit with an indescribable sense of loss.

Couldn’t she have at least told me about it? Well, I mean, I’ve had absolutely zero love talks with Seika up until now but if she had that kind of partner, then even I would’ve cheered her on. I wonder who the guy is? Probably a classmate or one of the basketball boys.

In my head, a faint silhouette of a boy holding Seika’s hand as she smiles is floating to the surface. Her smile is similar to the one I know but somewhat different.

The more I imagine Seika enjoying a date with someone, the more I feel my chest getting tight. Still, I’m sure that when Seika starts officially going out with him, the time she would compete with me will likely decrease. When that time comes, I can’t just tell her『I don’t want that.』and get in her way because of some childish reason. As her best friend, what is the right thing to do? Isn’t what Seika wants to do the most important thing here?

— Alright, I’ll support her love with all I have. By the time I reached that conclusion, the sun had already started to rise.

While having a headache from the lack of sleep, I headed to our meeting place to go with Seika together to school. There, Seika was already waiting and as I arrived, she greeted me.

「Morning Touka.」

For some reason, Seika’s voice is a bit lifeless and she seems to be sleepy.

「Morning~…… Hm? Seika, you look a bit sleepy today.」
「Ahh, I didn’t have too much sleep.」
「You too? I couldn’t sleep too~」
「You too? Did you do something last night?」
「Uhh……」

There’s no way I can tell her that I couldn’t sleep because I was imagining Seiko and her boyfriend (temp), so I promptly played it off.

「I just spent a bit too much time on my phone.」
「Eh…… With the guy you talked about yesterday?」
「Yup yup.」
「What a coincidence, me too.」
「—-」

So Seika and the said partner are already close enough to have phone calls late into the night. I’m sure that they were flirting like『On the count of three, let’s end the call. One, two…… Jeez, I told you to end it, right~?』or something close, no doubt.

If it was me yesterday, I would’ve probably been a bit shaken by it, but I’m different now. Since I have now decided to support Seika’s love, I’m instead happy that they’ve developed that much intimacy with each other.

「Calling up until late at night, aren’t you two lovey-dovey.」

As I was giggling, Seika waved her hand.

「Stop it. If we’re talking about that, then aren’t you the same as well?」
「Hey hey, what did you talk about last night?」
「Nothing really special. How about you, Touka?」
「Nothing much for me too~」

While answering suitably, we start heading to school. This might be one of the last few times I can go to school with Seika like this. Although it does feel lonely, perhaps everybody experienced something like this as they were maturing into adulthood. — Well, I guess I’m acting a bit too grown-up.

Though my sleepy head was still heavy, my chest felt like it was lighter than it was before. Today was that kind of day.

After a few weeks had passed, a certain thought popped into my mind.

— Does Seika even have time to go dating?

Right. I’ve noticed that I’ve been with Seika nearly every day and we practically have no private time for ourselves.

We do our club activities as soon as the classes end on weekdays, we practise at the club or at the park on weekends; we never forget to do our homework and study at home. It might be only me, but I definitely don’t think she has any free time for dating.

It worried me, so I asked her while we were taking a break at the park.

「Seika, are you still going on dates?」
「Ahh, well, yeah.」
「I don’t mind if you prioritize dating first. This is our personal training, so we don’t really need to do this after all.」
「…… Aren’t you just telling me that because you want to do so?」
「Eh!? T-That’s not what I meant! I was just thinking about you!」
「Hm~m, that sounds suspicious.」
「I mean it!」

From Seika’s doubting gaze, I feel a chill run down my spine. There’s no way I’d go on dates when I don’t even have a partner, but if I go『Just kidding~』this late in the game, who knows how she’ll see me from now on. I’ve already decided to be honest with her when they’re official and she’s in a good mood.

「Hey, Touka. Tell me who he is already.」
「Well, um, I can’t tell you without asking permission…….」
「Why? Do you think that I can’t keep it a secret?」
「Well, no, but…」
「Then it’s fine, right? Tell me.」
「T-Then you go first, Seika. If you tell me, I’ll say who he is.」

There’s no way I’d say my partner’s name when I don’t even, etc. When I don’t have any choice, I’ll use my relative’s name or something. I wanted to steer the conversation away from me but Seika was more stubborn than I thought.

「I’m the one who asked, so you go first. I’ll tell you later.」
「Didn’t you learn to go first when asking for someone’s name? So doesn’t it make sense for me to go after?」
「That’s when you’re asking in person, right?…… Say, am I really that hard to trust? I thought we were best friends too.」

Seeing Seika having a dejected look on her face stabs right into my conscience. It’s exactly because I think of her as my best friend that I’m doing what I can to support her.

Then Seika suddenly covered her mouth as though she realized something.

「Someone you can’t even tell me about…… Don’t tell me, someone from my family?」
「Like the heck that’d happen!」
「Then maybe someone super old or someone as young as a grade schooler?」
「That’s not it!」
「So our senior? Junior?」
「I’m telling you……」

Noticing that she’s trying to trick me into talking, I swallow my words. As I see Seika click her tongue, I break into a grin.

「Don’t you try being crafty now.」
「……. Okay, fine, I get it.」
「So you feel like talking?」
「Nope, let’s face head on and make it clear. 1 on 1, the one who loses will have to say who they’re dating. What do you think?」

So she wants us to settle this with a match. True, rather than continuing this unproductive dispute, it’s a lot easier to settle things this way.

「Fine. Just one round?」
「Finishing it in one round is pretty dull, so the first to score three wins.」
「Then let’s go with that. No excuses and taking back, okay?」
「I’m throwing those exact words right back at you」

After standing up with a confident smile, Seika went to her position with a ball in one hand. On her face, that smile is already gone. From her aura, I can feel her being more serious and tense than she was during the championship finals.

I see, so she really doesn’t want to say it to me that much. Then I’ll defeat her with all my strength and definitely get the guy’s name out no matter what.

After smacking my cheeks to psych myself up, I headed off to our decisive battle.

— The result was 3-2 with me as the winner.

It might have been a long time since I’ve had this much of a serious match with Seika. Bumping our bodies against each other, blocking each other’s shot with practically foul play, recklessly shooting regardless of form. Thanks to that, our match went on longer than usual. And because I abused my mind and body, I immediately collapsed as soon as it ended.

「How’s that…… I win.」

With a broad grin on my face, I turned my eyes to Seika. Still standing, she wipes her sweaty forehead with the hem of her shirt.

「…… Why don’t you move like that in an actual game?」
「Don’t be unreasonable. If I move like this, I won’t even last one game.」
「Well true. I’m already at my limit as well.」

Seika sat by my side.

「More importantly, I won the match you know?」
「…………」
「Sei~ka?」
「…… Yeah yeah, I’ll say it. I only need to say it right? But can I just confirm one thing?」
「What?」
「I just need to say the name of the person I’m interested in, right?」
「Hm? Well, it’s the person you’re dating, so I guess it will end up that way. You do think fondly of that person, right?」
「I do.」
「Then just saying the name is okay.」
「Touka.」
「What?」
「I told you, it’s Touka.」
「I told you, what is it? Don’t tell me that you’re going to keep it a secret after everything that we–」
「I’m telling you, the name of the person I’m interested in is Touka.」
「Eh? ………… Was there a boy with the same name as me? Which class is he in?」
「…… Are you seriously stupid?」

「Stupid? Don’t call me stupid, I’m asking you seriously.」
「I’m also answering you seriously though.」

Seika was looking at me with sincerity in her eyes. For a short moment, I thought back on her words as I stared back at her.

「…… Eh? Eh?」

As I was gradually understanding what she meant, I can feel my face steadily growing warm as well. The two phrases『Don’t tell me』and『You mean』rapidly ran through my mind.

「S-eika, i-it’s not a joke or something, right?」
「If you still don’t get it, then let me spell it out for you. The person I love… is the girl in front of me named Nishinari Touka.」
「…………」

I froze as my mind couldn’t keep up with what happened and then Seika suddenly raised her voice.

「Ahhhh! Why do I even need to confess when I’m definitely going to be rejected!! This is all your fault for keeping your dates and your boyfriend a secret from me, Touka!!」

While my face was beet red, Touka started blaming me. Although my mind was still half-frozen, upon realizing that I needed to just fix this misunderstanding, I opened my lips.

「Ah, sorry, none of that was true.」

This time, it was Seika’s turn to freeze up.

「Eh–」
「I thought for sure that you were boasting about how you’re dating someone, so I put on airs and, umm……」

With a thud, Seika fell to the ground.

「That was so confusing! I was wondering how you even got the time to go dating when we were always together! Ahh! This is the worst confession ever! Kill me! Please just kill me! Bash my head all over and get this memory out of my mind!!」
「S-Seika, calm down……」
「How should I even face you after being subjected to this humiliation!?」
「Well even if you ask me…… I think acting normal is enough.」
「…………」

Seika slowly sat her body up.

「…… Touka, aren’t you weirded out?」

「Eh? More than being weirded out, it surprised me but, I mean, so what?…… Honestly, I’m more relieved to hear that it wasn’t a name of some guy I know and all……」

Although I did decide to cheer her on, if she actually told me that it’s our classmate ○○ or something, I’d probably still be shocked. If I ever got someone’s name, I would’ve probably ended up having a lot of vivid images in my head. Moreover, a part of me was happy when I realized that everything Seika had said so far was all a lie as well.

After hearing my words, Seika was out of it for a while but then she suddenly stood up and turned to me with sparkles in her eyes.

「Alright, let’s have a match.」
「W-What?」
「We’ll have a match and if you lose, go out with me.」
「Haah!?」
「I should’ve just done this from the start. Settling stuff with a contest is the easiest thing to do and most of all, it is just like us.」
「And what merit do I even have for accepting this!?」
「Are you going to run away from a contest with me? So I win by default, then?」
「Taunting me with something that obvious……」
「If you’re saying that you don’t want to have a match with me because you absolutely can’t win, well, it can’t be helped so I could just let you off for now.」
「Taunting me with something that obvious……!」
「Ahh, yeah yeah, you’re not confident, right? Then just be honest about it. Like『Oh Seika, it’s my loss, please forgive me!』」

— Snap. I’m getting annoyed. I’m not kind enough to let you talk me down like this, you know?

「Who can’t win against who again……?」
「Touka can’t win against me.」
「For someone who just lost a moment ago, you sure know how to talk big.」
「Well I was holding back earlier.」
「Holding back-!? You just said it right!? Then this time I’m going to beat you to submission! If you lose, you’re getting punished okay!!」
「Doesn’t matter, I’m not losing anyway.」
「Oh! I! see! Then as a punishment, how about you hug the ring and do a cicada impression? I’m sure an out of season cicada will sound perfect today, don’t you agree!」

With a short rest, my body’s back in condition. And thanks to her provocation, I’m psyched up as well. I’ve already won once, so this time I’m absolutely going to win.
With a different kind of seriousness from before, the battle with our pride on the line is about to begin.

— The result was 0-3 with me losing nonstop…….

With my knees on the ground, I adjust my disorderly breath.

「T-That’s not fair……」
「What’s not fair?」

As she overlooks me with an imposing pose, I shot a glare Seika.

「Whispering you love me and stuff every time I try overtaking you, that’s what!」

Yeah. Of all things to do during our serious match, she whispered『I like you』or『I love you』and『I liked you since middle school』to shake me up. If you do something like that, of course my hand is going to slip.

「Chirping is a valid strategy, you know?」
「In ice hockey!」
「Even in basketball, there are teams that trash talk during the game too. Are you going to use that as an excuse for being distracted and losing? I think it’s best to just beat them in the game, don’t you agree?」
「Being reasonable in this kind of situation…….!」

As I was being salty, Seika crouched right in front of me. Her elated attitude has now died down and, with insecurity in her eyes, she opened her lips.

「…… I said that in the heat of the moment, but are you really okay with it?」

Are you really okay with going out with me? With how timid she looked while saying that, you would never think that she was the same person who was energetically challenging me to a contest just now. Well, as she said, everything from her confession up until now felt like it was being done in the heat of the moment but even with that, I absolutely didn’t feel uncomfortable with it. Because we grew up practically like family, I don’t have any discomfort with her saying 『I love you』

I’m not sure if it’s alright to lump that feeling with Seika’s『Love』but at the very least, there’s not a single reason for me to refuse Seika’s proposal right now.

「…… Even if you say we’re going out, it’s not really any different from what we’re already doing, you know?」

Going to school together, doing club activities together, practicing on our free time together — up until now, haven’t we been already doing pretty lover-like things? The only difference is whether or not your feelings reach the other party.

「Thank you, Touka.」

The girl that was always competing with me by my side was holding my hand with an awfully happy smile, as though the greatest joy of her life was right in her arms.

「– Well, let’s go.」
「Eh?」

Seika pulled me up from the ground.

「On a date. I’ve always dreamt of walking around and seeing different stuff with you.」
「You could’ve just asked me out normally anytime you know?」
「But you like moving your body more than looking at clothes right?」
「Well true, but……」
「Don’t worry about it, we’ll be going on a lot of dates from now on.」
「I wasn’t even worried.」
「I want to go see that movie too, after all.」
「Ah, yeah that’s right! I see, since you haven’t actually watched it yet, let’s see it together.」
「Definitely.」
「…… What’s with that huge grin on your face?」
「I was just thinking, studies, club activities, and love — I’m really in the height of my youth, or something.」
「Well good for you then. Come on, if we’re going, we need to get home before it gets dark. Do you have someplace in mind?」
「Yup. There’s a shop at the underground subway with clothes that probably look good on you, so there.」
「I’m not buying anything, okay?」
「Sure. Just looking around with you is fun after all.」
「Don’t say that embarrassing stuff in public.」
「Then I’ll do it lots when we’re alone.」
「…… Just do as you like.」

While bringing our bags, we left the basketball court.

The part during the weekend is bustling with life. The cold autumn breeze brings the energetic voices of children along with the rustling of the treetops. Although it was the usual sight, I felt something completely different compared to the usual. It felt much brighter or maybe much warmer, I’m not really sure. The sun and the temperature weren’t actually any different, so it’s a really weird thing to say.

But this is probably all because of the hand of a certain someone I’m holding right now — Thinking so, my cheeks naturally form a smile.

〈Bonus: Victory depends on the luck of the day?〉

While dribbling the ball, I was watching for a gap in the enemy’s defenses.

　— Now!

With force behind my toes, I kicked the ground. As I was about to slip through the enemy’s flank while I keep my body near the ground, I heard a whisper.

「……. Kiss……. If I win, we’re going to kiss……」

I instantly felt my knees go weak. The enemy didn’t let this chance slip. In an instant, she stole the ball, turned around and immediately made the winning shot.

「– Yes!!!」

I shot a glare at Seika, who pumped her fist with all her might.

「……. I told you to stop doing that right?」
「And I remember saying that it’s your fault for getting distracted though.」
「Nope! This one doesn’t count! One more time!」
「Touka, give up and just accept your loss.」
「I haven’t lost yet, okay!?」

After letting out a sigh, Seika passed me the ball. Ohh, she’s letting me have a rematch. I got excited for a moment when — she stole my lips.

「—-!!?」
「A promise is a promise — Ouch, ow! Don’t hit me with the ball!」

Haa Haa, breathing heavily, I wiped my lips. I seem to be winning less and less lately and it’s definitely not my imagination.

「Then let’s have one more match. If you win, you can order me to do anything you want.」
「…… Even if it’s to stop kissing me?」
「Sure. But if I win, it’s a B leaning on C, okay?」
「C–」

The words that bothered me that night were now bothering me in a whole different way.

「Y-Yeah, on second thought, maybe we should stop here for today……」
「Running away, Touka?」
「Shut up! I’m not running away, it’s called a strategic retreat! At least let me prepare myself!」
「Feel free.」

Noticing that Seika is being unusually cooperative, I knit my brows.

「…… You’re not planning to surprise me with something again, are you?」
「No, it’s not that. It’s just, wanting to prepare yourself means that you’re seriously thinking it through, right? So as your lover, isn’t it natural for me to wait until you’re fully prepared?」
「N-No, that’s not what I–」
「Well, enough small talk, you just need to win. Just win, okay?」
As I saw Seika smiling extremely happily in the corner of my eye, I noticed myself accepting that I’ll definitely lose if we have another match. So in my mind, I muttered to myself.
I should definitely buy a cute pair of underwear.

~~The End~~